‘Gran Turismo’ Movie in the Works

The Fast and Furious franchise may be a dozen years old, but the series – which has evolved from an L.A.-based street racing saga to high-speed tales of international intrigue – continues to have an effect on Hollywood’s upcoming slate, especially with the $712 million worldwide box office take for Fast & Furious 6.

Most recently, Sony Pictures acquired Go Fast, an action thriller featuring high-speed boats, for Kick-Ass 2 director Jeff Wadlow. Now it appears the studio has another project in the pipeline that relies on fast vehicles as its primary selling point.

According to The Wrap, Sony Pictures is developing a film version of best-selling racing video game series Gran Turismo. No director, writer or stars have yet been announced, though Fifty Shades of Grey producers Mike De Luca and Dana Brunetti are handling the project.

Gran Turismo is only the latest project based on automobile video games to enter active development. Films based on the Spy Hunter and Need for Speed video games are also in the works, as is an adaptation of the popular Hot Wheels toys.

Even with this increasingly crowded marketplace, turning Gran Turismo into a live-action film makes tons of financial sense for Sony. The video game series is one of the biggest Playstation franchise, having sold more than 70 million copies worldwide. This means that brand recognition is sure to provide a marked boost in interest in the project, at least for gamers.

However, in order for Gran Turismo to achieve box office success, Sony will have to aim higher. With so many fast car (and now fast boat) films on the horizon, audiences are sure to become weary of new franchise upstarts and instead save their hard-earned cash for stalwarts like the Fast and Furious films.

The existing Gran Turismo games are little more than race simulators, meaning that the innovation for the film may derive from the way in which it makes moviegoers feel like they are truly in the driver’s seat. This naturally lends itself to a 3D release but hardly offers any hints as to what the story or characters of a Gran Turismo film may offer.

What would you like to see in a Gran Turismo film, Screen Rant readers? Are you looking forward to the film, or is this one too many racing movies on the horizon? Let us know in the comments section below.

There’s currently no planned released date for Gran Turismo, so stay tuned to Screen Rant for the latest as this story develops.